What Happens Now?
by SmallDarkAndDreary
Summary: Ramona Sterling is a new doctor at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, where she is going to be taught by the knowledgable Dr.House. Problems will arise when they both come to realize they're both extremely arrogant.But will love arise out of it?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The wailing of the ambulance increased behind her as she walked up the sidewalk towards Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, the vehicle pulling into the driveway for emergencies only. The clicking of her black high heels against the concrete echoed the sound of her heart beating in her chest, her pulse accelerating as she got closer to the building. Ever since she was a child, she dreamed of being a doctor and working in a hospital, but so far, she had no luck at any of the offices or hospitals she had worked at. It wasn't that they didn't accept her, but they underplayed her intelligence. When she heard about the reputation of this hospital, including the doctors, she finally felt relief, and was overjoyed when they accepted to have her work at the hospital. Approaching the door, she exhaled; the feeling like most of the oxygen in her body was being released, but quickly remembering that could never happen. Her forehead crinkled as she walked through the sliding automatic doors, thinking how she wasn't even on the job yet and she was saying medical facts to herself. Without missing a beat, her features smoothed out, revealing her smooth and beautiful porcelain skin in its entirety. As she walked up to the front desk, she smiled at the woman typing at the computer, waiting to be tended to.

"Hello, how are you today? Can I help you with something?" The woman asked, looking her over from behind the counter with a faint smile. She seemed to be that receptionist that knew everything, and if you didn't watch out, could get under your skin. She ignored that thought as she addressed the receptionist with a smile.

"Hi, I'm fine, and my name is Ramona Sterling. I was wondering if you could help me find this doctor." Ramona put the black folder with her credentials on the counter, opening it to the page with the doctor's name. The paper went into detail about his medical achievements and how Ramona would be in good hands under his leadership. The receptionist nodded and gave her verbal directions on how to get to his office, hand gestures and all, the sound of her voice indicating she wanted to get this over with and continue her work.

"Well, thank you for your help. I'll just get going now," Ramona said, grabbing her folder and turning on her heel, repeating the directions in her head. Ramona was halfway down the hallway when a call after her made her stop and turn around. The receptionist was sitting with a smile, waving her hand to get Ramona's attention.

"You'll have a fun time finding ," the receptionist began, giving Ramona a sly smile, "just thought I should let you know." Ramona stared at the woman for a moment, a confused look on her face, but not wanting to ask. She turned back towards the hallway, walking at a steady pace not knowing what to think of what the woman had told her. He's a doctor, so why wouldn't he be in his office? Or why would he be hard to find? Ramona shook her head and made a left, passing patient rooms, looking in on the sick. She had always felt bad for people who came to the hospital, always having to wait on everything. Ramona hated to wait, and it showed through her aggressive stances in diagnosing people. At the end of the hallway she made a right, seeing a bunch of offices of important, higher ranking doctors. Ramona carefully looked at the names on the doors, keeping an eye out for the intended door. After passing about five similar offices, she stumbled across a wooden door that read "Dr. Gregory House, M.D."

Taking a breath, she paused, taking everything in before knocking on the door, only to find it was unlocked. When she opened the door, she found an empty but neat office. Ramona couldn't believe that the office was empty, and more importantly, the receptionist was right. Not knowing what to do with herself, or how long Dr. House would take, she walked over to a couch near the window and sat on it. She couldn't help but look around the office to see if she could guess anything about her new teacher. From the looks of it, he was very particular, wanting his office his way. He might possibly be a control freak, which wouldn't be shocking for a doctor. From the looks of it, Ramona was also trying to think of what this man would look like. Would he be a young obsessive compulsive doctor or would he be some really old man that is far past his prime? Ramona decided to wait and see, just in case her assumptions were wrong, it wouldn't be the first time. She leaned her head back on the couch, trying to relax. Her leg was bouncing lightly out of nerves, and she tried to calm it, but to no avail. She decided to just let it go, and instead stare at the ceiling.

Ramona had completely zoned out when the sound of a door handle snapped her out of her daze. Looking at the door, a tall man with a cane stood, staring at her. Ramona stood up and looked at the man further. He wore a black button up shirt with black pants and a dress jacket. His features were defined, his blue-gray eyes being the most stunning feature. He looked somewhat confused as to what she was doing in his office, but he shook it off, walking past her to his desk. Ramona turned and looked at him, walking to the front of his desk as he put down his backpack and took off his jacket.

"Dr. House?" Ramona asked in a soft voice, not knowing what to really say considering he was being so quiet. He briefly glimpsed at her, moving around papers on his desk, and putting his cane to the side, sitting down in his black swivel chair. He put his feet up on his desk, crossing them, and folding his hands on his chest.

"That'd be me," he replied, staring at Ramona with a look she couldn't describe.

"Hello, my name is Ramona Sterling. I'm going to be the new doctor on your team." Ramona placed the folder with her credentials on his desk, looking to Dr. House. He looked down at the folder and then back to Ramona.

"Do you think that matters?" He asked, looking at her with those piercing eyes.

"Excuse me?" Ramona asked, not understanding why it wouldn't be important.

"Do you honestly think your credentials are important? Do you think they will have any meaning to me?"

"Well they have to mean something; otherwise I wouldn't have brought them." Ramona was stunned at his approach to this whole situation. Here he has a new talent, and he's acting like he's never seen it before.

"Well they don't, Miss. Sterling, or at least not to me. I'll judge you based on what you do, not on what others said you did. All of that doesn't matter now." He leaned back in his seat, his head titled, looking to Ramona. He seemed so sure of himself, and she had no idea what to say.

"So you're not going to read them at all?" She asked, sounding a little impatient. House stared at her and leaned forward, grabbing his cane and standing up. He grabbed the folder she had placed on his desk and walked over to her side, facing the door.

"I don't like new people, they irritate me. And to answer your question, I'll put a use to your credentials. They will be perfect for warming my house." And with that, House left his office, shutting the door behind him, leaving Ramona by herself, watching the door with an offended expression.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

The sound of the clock ticking on the wall became monotonous, a painful reminder that House still wasn't there, and that he was wasting time. Ramona tapped her pen on the table, looking around to the rest of the doctors. They had all said something to her, but none of them asked who she was, or why she was even there. They seemed bored too, but they looked like this was nothing new to them. The silence in the room was a little disturbing to Ramona, and had a pin been dropped, it would have sounded ear shattering. The other doctors talked amongst themselves, but in low voices, as if they didn't want Ramona hearing what they were discussing. Was it about her? Did they not know what to say or think about her?

When Ramona thought the silence couldn't get any more uncomfortable, House burst through the door, letting in the sound of his entrance and all the hospital sounds that followed. He walked over to his desk with uneven steps, putting down his belongings like he did when Ramona first encountered him. Ramona noticed that, for a doctor, he took his sweet time with everything. Once he was finally settled, he sat in his chair and looked to the doctors sitting at the table, a serious look on his face.

"So what's this one's problem?" House asked, scanning the faces of his fellow doctors.

"The patient suffered head trauma and broken ribs from a racing accident. The patient's car got crushed under their opponent's car when it went air bound," said Dr. Foreman, who sat at the head of the table, opposite House, flipping through the report.

"And? There has to be more."

"The patient may be internally bleeding. He had said on the stretcher that he felt weak and that he has abdominal pain, severe he said."

"And this is what I got rushed into work for? Where's the thrill in that?" House asked, looking around to see if anyone would agree with him, but no one did. Ramona couldn't believe the tone he was taking on while someone's life was being held in the balance. It was a serious situation and all he did was joke. Was it some sort of mechanism to hide something? So far, her impression of House was little to nothing. The first day he just didn't talk to her, and now he's being a jerk. First impressions must not mean much to him.

"Run a test to see if he's bleeding, and if he is, try to get the blood out in a safe and clean manner. I don't want blood all over the place, and I think the custodians just cleaned," House said, standing up and grabbing his cane.

"House, that could kill the man if we did that, you know that," Foreman said, giving him a look of impatience.

"Have any other ideas?" House asked, looking to Foreman, and then slowly to the rest of the doctors. "I didn't think so, so why don't we run the tests?" And with that, the doctors rose from the table, leaving House to stand in the same spot, staring at the table in thought. Ramona remained where she was at the table, looking up to House. House looked up and glanced to her, then sat back down in his chair, taking out a ball from his desk and throwing it up to catch it. Ramona stood and walked over to the front of his desk, taking a breath before speaking.

"Dr. House, can I talk to you?" Ramona asked her tone completely serious.

"House," he said, continuing to throw the ball and catch it.

"Excuse me?"

"House. Just call me House like everyone does. Dr. House makes me seem like I'm incredibly old and should be visited monthly." Ramona was slightly confused on why a person wouldn't want such a professional title in front of their name, but she continued.

"House," it took her a moment to get used to saying it, "I just want to know something."

"What is it? Anything you want, I give away anything for new people." Ramona could sense the sarcasm dripping off the words he spoke.

"Well that's part of it, your sarcasm. Is that an everyday thing? And I also want to know why you didn't tell anyone else who I was. That's part of what you should do, introduce me to the rest of your colleagues, considering I'm under your watchful teaching eye." Ramona didn't care if she sounded like she was being rude. Sometimes in life you had to just dig right into the skin.

"Do you think I'm happy with having a new person, or did you not hear what I said the day you started? I hate new people. Who needs them? They only cause trouble. I can tell what type of person you are. You think you're a genius and you want everyone to notice that. Your credentials stated that, but then why did you not stay consistent in one hospital?" House stared at her with cold eyes, and it made Ramona want to snap.

"I'm incredibly smart, and the reason I didn't stay at those other hospitals was because they underplayed my intelligence. I was hoping this wouldn't be a repeat. And since when did you want to read my credentials?" Ramona wanted that answer the most out of everything else. House smirked, but kept eye contact with her.

"I like a good read as I sit by the fireplace. Yours came up short, although the fire seemed to enjoy it very much." House paused a moment, letting that sink in before he continued. "We didn't need you here; Cuddy just took you out of pity."

Ramona stood there, dumbfounded, as if she had just been slapped across the face. Never in her life did she think someone would be so blunt to her about anything. She clenched her fists at her sides, her fingernails digging into the palms, restraining her from verbally abusing House and losing her job, which at this point, she wouldn't mind. Ramona wanted nothing more than respect at this time, and all of that had just been trampled on. It was the worst start to a job ever documented in her head. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came, and nothing would for awhile. Ramona knew the last thing House needed to see were tears, validation that he had won, so before she let herself completely go, she stormed out of the room, slamming the office door behind her.

XXXXX

A little while after the blowout between Ramona and House, Cuddy knocked on the door to House's office, letting herself in before he could speak. He was still sitting at his desk throwing the ball into the air and catching it, without a care in the world. Cuddy stood with her arms crossed over her chest, waiting in silence for House to realize her presence.

"House," Cuddy said, in a voice that demanded his attention.

"What? I'm busy," said House, continuing what he was doing.

"Yeah, real busy." Cuddy took a few steps forward and grabbed the ball mid air, putting it behind her back, now having his attention. "I'd like to talk to you about what happened between you and Ramona. I saw her storm out of your office today, and when I saw her later, I had her come into my office and talk to me about it." She paused a moment, studying House's features. "Now answer this for me, why do you have to be such an ass?" House looked at her, as if he didn't know what she was talking about, but complied anyway.

"I just told her the truth, and it hurts. Maybe she needs a band-aid for it." Cuddy stared at him, offended at what he said.

"I did not take her out of pity. I took her because she's an excellent doctor, and I knew you would like her and maybe teach her more." House looked at her as if he could care less, and Cuddy sighed.

"Find her," Cuddy said in a stern tone, one that meant business and little patience.

"No," House said, holding his ground.

"House-"

"Nope," he said, leaning further back in his chair.

"Don't make me take away your meds." There was a silence as House and Cuddy exchanged glances. After a moment, House grabbed his cane and stood, walking towards Cuddy.

"Yes, mom," he said in a sarcastic tone, and left his office, leaving Cuddy behind.


End file.
